American Literary Periods
Colonial 1650-1750
~ The Colonial movement was
mostly instructional.
~ It was to spread the word of
God, and help the corrupted
(which was everyone).
~ This style of writing is seen
in plain writing, in the form
of diaries, sermons, and
personal notes.
Examples of Writers During this Period…
Anne Bradstreet (1612-1672)
1. First published American poet
2. "To My Dear and Loving Husband"
3. "If ever two were one, then surely we. If
ever man were lov'd by wife, then thee."
Jonathan Edwards (1703 – 1758)
1. Minister
2. "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"
3. View of God as punitive and distant;
view of man as basically evil
Age of Reason
1750-1800
~ This movement was generally in an ornate style that used
reason as opposed to faith alone (Rationalism).
~ The work in this literary movement is also seen in persuasive
writing, political pamphlets, and travel writing.
~ This was a good movement for America. It increased
patriotism, and it brought about a common ground on which
issues were agreed.
~ The writing encouraged the reader to support the
Revolutionary War and taught readers how to understand
what they were reading.
Writers During this Period…
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
1. The Autobiography, is about his life, and is split into
four different parts; 2. Poor Richard's Almanac ; 3. Was
a symbol of success due to hard work & common sense
Thomas Paine (1737–1809)
1. Pamphleteer ; 2. "The American Crisis" helped propel
us into war; 3. Remains a model of effective propaganda;
4. "These are the times that try men's souls."
Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826)
1. Declaration of Independence
2. Considered the finest writer of the era
3. "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men
are created equal…"
Romanticism 1800-1855
~ This movement
gave readers a chance
to read more
imaginative work, and
often came in the
form of short stories,
or poems.
~ There is more focus on feelings, rather than reason, and
intuition over fact, which was very different from the previous
literary movement (Rationalism).
~ Though the work was feeling and imaginary based, it started
important debates on slavery.
DarkRomanticism
Gothic Literature
~ A sub-genre of
Romanticism
~ Features the use of
the supernatural
~ Has characters with
both evil and good
characteristics
~ Includes dark
landscapes;
depressed characters
Writers During this Period…
Washington Irving (1789-1851)
1. First famous American writer; called “Father of
American Lit“
2. Wrote short stories, travel books, satires
3. Famous for Legend of Sleepy Hollow (which terrified
generations of children), and Rip Van Winkle (which
created success from failure and the antihero)
5. "Devil and Tom Walker": encounter-with-the-devil tale
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)
1. Wrote about sin and guilt; consequences of pride,
selfishness, etc.
2. The Scarlet Letter
3. Short stories ("The Minister's Black Veil,“ “Young
Goodman Brown”)
Writers During this Period…
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)
1. Lousy childhood; substance abuse problems; reviled
in his day
2. Created the modern short story and detective story;
3. Poems: "The Raven", "Bells", "Annabel Lee", "Dream"
4. Attacked two long-standing conventions: a poem has
to be long; it must teach a lesson
Herman Melville (1819-1891)
1. Ranked as one of America's top novelists, but was
recognized by few in his own time
2. Wrote Moby Dick which didn't sell. Only his friend
Nathaniel Hawthorne liked it. It was not reprinted
for 60 yrs. It is now considered America's greatest
prose epic
Transcendentalism 1840-1860
~ Stressed individualism, intuition,
nature, self-reliance.
~ The purpose of this style is to find
truth through various senses and
through nature.
~ The reader was often left with
something to contemplate.
~ Transcendentalists believed that
society and its institutions corrupted
the purity of the individual.
~ Belief that people are at their best
when truly "self-reliant" and
independent.
~ This style is seen in poems, and novels
Writers During this Period…
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)
1. His writings helped establish the philosophy of
individualism, an idea deeply embedded in
American culture
2. "Nature"
3. "Self-Reliance"
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
1. Resisted materialism; chose simplicity,
individualism
2. Wrote Walden, a guidebook for life, showing
how to live wisely in a world designed to make
wise living impossible
3. Lived on Walden Pond for 2+ years
4. "Civil Disobedience": a primer for nonviolent
protest
Realism 1865-1915
~ The Civil War brought about a demand for a "truer" type of
literature that didn't idealize people or places
~ People in society were defined by "class"; materialism
~ The ideas of Darwin (survival of the fittest) and Marx (how money
and class structure control a nation) were popular
As a result of these beliefs, Realism:
~ Became a reaction against
Romanticism; it told it like it was
~ Focused on lives of ordinary people;
rejected heroic and adventurous
~ Was anti-materialistic; rejected the
new "class" system
~ Viewed nature as a powerful and
indifferent force beyond man's
control
A sub-genre of
Realism
~ Like Realism but a darker
view of the world
~ The universe is unpredictable; fate is determined by chance;
free will is an illusion
~ Characters' lives shaped by forces they can't understand or
control
~ Novels, short stories
~ Often aims to change a specific social problem
~ Dominant themes: survival, fate, violence, nature as an
indifferent force
Writers During this Period…
Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896)
1. The most famous woman of her day
2. Wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin, the most influential
book of the 19th Century and first book to sell one
million copies. One of the most effective
documents of propaganda; helped fuel the Civil
War
Frederick Douglas (1817-1895)
1. An escaped slave; one of the most effective
orators of his day
2. Influential newspaper writer; militant abolitionist;
diplomat
3. His autobiography an instant and enduring classic
tale of courage
Writers During this Period…
Mark Twain (1835-1910)
1. Samuel Langhorne Clemens is believed to be the
greatest American humorist and novelist
2. Used vernacular, exaggeration, deadpan narrator
to create humor
3. “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras
County” (tall tale); Adventures of Tom Sawyer;
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (one of America's
most influential novels)
Stephen Crane (1871-1900)
1. Wrote The Red Badge of Courage
2. “The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky”
The Moderns 1900-1950
~ The Modern movement
brought pride in the
American dream, often in the
form of poems, plays, and
novels.
~ During this movement
authors strived to find an
individual style.
~ This style brought pride in
being American, and the
country was thought of as the
land of Eden
Writers During this Period…
F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940)
1. Wrote The Great Gatsby, said to be the greatest
American novel ever written
Earnest Hemmingway (1899 – 1961)
1. Hemmingway’s short stories fall
under this movement.
John Steinbeck (1902–1968)
1. Wrote the Pulitzer Prize winning novel,
The Grapes of Wrath
The Harlem Renaissance 1920s
~ This movement was very
empowering for African
Americans, because
before this time, literature
portrayed them in a very
stereotypical way.
~ In this movement African
Americans were revealed
to be complex characters.
~ The Harlem Renaissance
is agreed to help start
Examples of work from this movement
gospel music.
are Zora Neil’s Their Eyes Were
~ Poems from this movement
Watching God, and Langston
are often in blues form
Hughes poems.
Post Modernism/
Contemporary 1950-Present
~ Post Modernism and Contemporary can be thought of as two
movements, but their differences are not big enough to separate
them.
~ Both movements blur the line between fiction and nonfiction, and
either have no heroes, or anti-heroes, respectively.
~ One difference between the two is that Post Modernism usually
has no humor, while Contemporary may have ironic humor.
Examples of Post Modernism are Norman Mailers’ The Naked and the
Dead and The Executioners Song; Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood
Examples of Contemporary works are Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain,
and Orson Cards Enders Game